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Would I pay less than both the EZPass folks and those requiring change if I used the Exact Change lanes? Because those did not require an expensive new collection system or a government employee toll collector. And as DJ_Jaws notes, the Parkway was supposed to be paid off long ago. I would rather McHose sponsor legislation to remove the tolls, but I'm all for the cash payment option she is sponsoring.

Property taxes are a local issue- except where State government mandates spending but does not provide funding. How about you State Assembly representatives eliminating the State income tax? Do that and I'll save some real dollars. My town gets so little State aid my property taxes would go up about $30 per year without it, I pay a bit more than that in State income taxes. You are correct about the Supreme Court's unequal school funding formula. So do something about it at the State level you serve at and eliminate their funding source- my income taxes.

What makes those tax numbers even worse is the fact that the US Govt borrows about 40% of what it spends each year. So it's even less likely they will try and raise the revenue to make that up (about 1.5 Trillion $ annually) from the 60% of Makiw's 'welfare' recipients. The money comes directly from future taxpayers unless we 1) drastically cut spending/raise taxes to balance the budget 2) default on the future debt 3) print our way of of it, with the corresponding inflation/currency devaluation that would cause. I have not heard Gov Romney's plan to do any of these. We've already seen Pres Obama's plan in action- continue spending way more money than the Govt takes in, borrowing to make up the difference, talking about raising taxes but extending tax cuts, printing money like crazy. Ron Paul is right.

"Washington should be borrowing and spending now to pump up economic demand." Just curious, what do you call it when Washington annually puts $1.4 - 1.7 trillion dollars into the economy that they don't take out in taxes? I realize it's not creating the economic activity they would like to see, but they are certainly borrowing and spending. Maybe if they had a clue they could spend wisely, but then we wouldn't be in this economic shape.

It is ridiculous to say lying is protected speech - it is not, otherwise perjury, slander, libel, etc would be OK. Freedom of expression of ideas, opinions, etc is a different issue and should be protected. But people are not protected from lying, nor should they be. There is also the issue of relevance- for example, lying under oath about your favorite color is perjury but probable not relevant in a court proceeding so you would lilely not be charged.

marylou- I agree. And people like the 'one reader posted on NJ.com ' would be deamanding refunds and/or suing towns if they paid to get on the beach but were told by lifeguards they could not go in the ocean.

" So there’s a question: How can the Republicans ever hope to regain control of the state government in the post-Christie era? " I don't think they want it. Other than a rare few - Senator Dogherty, Assemblyman Merkt, Steve Lonegan, a few others- Republicans at the state level are your stereotypical state worker. Show up, do little to nothing of value, collect paycheck, accumulate pension. They don't have to write any legislation, build coalitions, run comittees, etc- just show up, vote, and complain.

And as I've posted before, I challenge anyone to name the prominent conservative NJ Republican Gov Christie has appointed or appeared with. I can name Democrats- former Attorney General Dow , acting Education Commisioner Cerf, Big Steve Adubato, Mayor Booker, Essex County Commissioner DiVincenzo.

Unfortunately I think the Governor prefers the current situation. It lets him speak/YouTube like a tough conservative and govern like a Democrat on issues such as property tax relief. I think he believes it's a winning election strategy- conservatives have no place else to go, and he'll win more votes in the urban areas he continues to pour state money into. I don't agree , but I think he believes it.

Reagan signed an immigration reform bill that allowed illegal immigrants to become citizens. Millions of them did. He also signed more than a dozen tax increases, as part of deals with Democrats aimed at cutting the deficit.

Good points. We now have an estimated/unkown 10 - 20 million illegal immigrants in the country. The annual deficits loom around $1.5 trillion dollars. We need more compromises like those to fix today's problems- even though today's problems are the ones addressed by those compromises , and are worse now. I'm not following the logic here.

I believe Mr Mulshine is saying the SPCA is not necessary, and it is kind of scary they even exist. But he is not saying animal cruelty does not exist, and that's not the point of the article. Reread the part about 'accountable to no government authority'. That means accountable to nobody, because government in this country (losely in this state) is elected by the people. Having people with guns and authority to issue tickets, with no oversite from We, The People, is frightening. And that is the point. We have state, county, and municipal law enforcement officials - we should let them deal with cruelty to animal issue, and they already do.

Given your two choices, I choose taxes on consumption. But there is a third choice- tax on ownership/property. Or tax all three, like here in NJ. Then fool some of the people into thinking raising their state income tax to reduce their local property tax makes sense. It does if you live in urban districts with lower incomes, but not if you live in a suburban district with higher incomes and property values. There you get the double whammy of both higher income and property taxes, with the third whammy that the State takes your income tax revenue and uses to reduce urban residents' property taxes.

I'm not a Republican or Democrat. But I see Gov Christie's reasoning for the Harris nomination as trying to show he's a 'Big Tent' Republican who reaches across the political aisle and social spectrum to work with and appoint people. Real conservatives aren't welcome in that tent, YouTube impersonators are.

Dan.., I must disagree with your statement that the Governor is doing everything he can to avoid tax increases. He may be doing a lot of things , like the scheme Mr Mulshine is writing about here, to avoid increasing the income tax rate while he is in office. But spending more money that you take in will require raising the tax revenue to pay for it at some point. The Governor's problem is taking credit for the spending, but leaving the blame of paying for that spending to someone else.

Spending less money than you take in is not complicated- difficult maybe, but not complicated. Borrowing to pay current expenses while trying to make it look like you are balancing the budget, now that's where things get complicated.

His stick-handling is definitely an asset, but his what seems to be total disregard of when to stay in the crease - especially with opposing players in his end, sometimes almost in his face, often without a defenseman covering them, and in critical situations like last night- is a huge liability. There are 5 other players responsible for moving the puck up ice, there is only 1 with big leg pads, a wide stick, waffle pad, and catching glove responsible for guarding the net, and that's him. When he recklessly disregards that huge defensive responsibility to help provide some offense, very bad things can happen. As a future hall of famer, he should play smarter than that. No excuses for that, IMHO.

Ain't that the truth. When I see the Governor stop appearing with them publicly and stop sending them State Aid I'll believe he holds a grudge. Till then I'll believe my lying eyes and watch him hold their hands.

Here is the blog from September I was refering to. Don't see how a Repubican wins without Florida, to me that means Rubio not Christie. http://blog.nj.com/njv_paul_mulshine/2011/09/the_real_debate_watch_the_swin.html

Senator Rubio has two things going for him that Governor Christie does not - he is Hispanic, and Republicans are obssessed with trying to gain Hispanic votes. He is Senator in Florida, and as I've noted before, based on electoral votes in swing states, if the Republican candidate loses Florida he loses the presidential election. So while I agree that his foreign policy views are off base, he could still be the nominee.

Pro football does great here in Jersey, minor league baseball does OK, that's about it. Pro basketball, pro hockey, college football, college basketball (other than NCAA tournament)- just do not draw the steady sell-out crowds everyone always predicts. New arenas, new stadiums, etc- just is not happening for the other sports.